Broken Wings
by Shiori07
Summary: Eren wasn't expecting this. He wasn't expecting this at all. This isn't how he wanted things to end, not with the beginning. WARNING: character death.


A/N: I honestly don't know why I keep doing this to myself. You'd think that after putting these two through so much grief that I would run out of ways to break them. But I haven't. What's worse, I have more ideas, and I would say it's ok because I'm going to even out who dies, but that doesn't really make it better. I do have some that aren't as depressing though, and I actually have some multi-chapter ideas that I will definitely get to because they're promising. But for now, try not to drown in your tears.

Disclaimer: AoT-SnK is not mine.

* * *

 **~Broken Wings~**

Eren had never run harder from anything in his life. The worst thing about the situation was that he was running _away._ From Titans. But he couldn't do anything about it. As much as he wanted to, he could only turn tail and flee like a coward. It ate him up inside, wounding his pride more than he could voice as a titan-shifter and humanity's Last Hope. And yet, as he ran, desperately trying not to trip over his own feet or drop the person supported against his side, he knew this was the best course of action.

Because Captain Levi was bleeding out. The only thing he could _do_ for him was run and get him as far from danger as possible.

As Eren stumbled through the forest, he strained his ears to go beyond the sounds of his own blundering and catch the subtle indications of his captain being alive. He was breathing, but his breaths were shallow, ragged, and his legs moved in startling discoordination. He was barely keeping up.

The brunet tried not to let those thoughts get to him as he paused, glancing around the area for any immediate signs of danger. Besides his panting, the forest was relatively silent. For now.

Well, that was better than nothing.

As Eren began to move toward a tree, his pace considerably slower, a cough sounded from next to him, followed by a deep, ragged breath of a voice. "You know, your blundering, clumsy ass stumbling around isn't at all helping my condition."

"Sorry, Heichou. We're taking a break now," Eren informed him. Carefully, he made it to the tree, leaning Levi against it and gently lowering him to the ground. The man let out a small groan as he reached the grassy floor, his arm removing itself from Eren's waist to curl around his stomach. After Eren set him down, he glanced down at Levi and immediately flinched. Blood was soaking through the man's shirt from a gaping hole in his stomach. Morbidly, Eren thought it reminded him of a blooming flower.

Kneeling down a few feet away, the brunet tore his cloak off and immediately set to work ripping it into strips. Normally, he would have cringed at the sound of such an iconic symbol being shredded to pieces, but this was important. His Captain needed bandages more than he needed to respect his insignia.

"Eren…" Levi muttered, storm-gray eyes locked on the boy as he worked. "There's something I've been meaning to say to you."

"Sh!" the brunet hushed before he could say anymore. "You need to save your strength, Heichou."

"No, I need to say it," the man insisted, struggling to sit up against the tree to better look at his subordinate. "If I don't say it now, I'll take it to my grave, and I'd rather not die with any regrets."

"Sir, if it's really that important, it can wait until—"

"I love you."

Those three words cut into Eren like a frigid blade, his eyes simply staring at his hands which had suddenly stopped moving.

"…What?"

"It's disgusting, isn't it?" Levi asked weakly, giving a small, bitter chuckle. "I'm so much older than you. Not to mention we're both men and I'm your commanding officer. I don't know why I allowed myself to feel this way when it's so—"

And suddenly, Levi stopped talking, his steel-grey eyes staring at Eren's face as he turned to look at him, a tear streaming down his cheek.

"No… Heichou, it's not disgusting at all."

For a long moment, the two simply looked at each other, teal meeting silver in the dusk…

Suddenly, Eren turned back to his cloak, hands working more furiously than they had before.

"Eren…"

"We are getting you back to the others, Heichou! They're probably searching for us right now, and if we can just get to them then—"

"Eren!"

The brunet stopped, turning to look at Levi who was now glaring at him. "You'll never make it trying to drag my ass with you… We both know what needs to be done."

Eren shook his head. "No. Heichou, I am not leaving you."

"Eren—"

"No!" Eren was suddenly standing, his fists clenched at his sides, his eyes alight with that familiar fire of determination. "I won't leave you here! You can't expect me to after what you just said to me! You're so cruel!"

"Your life is more important than mine," Levi said, his voice devoid of emotion. "Your obligation is primarily to humanity, not me. There's no reason for you to try this hard."

"But there is! There is a reason, you idiot!" Eren shouted, his breathing hard and quickening in pace. "I'm in love too, ok?! I love you too!"

There was a beat of silence. Then those words seemed to register to the captain, shock flashing through his normally cold eyes like lightning. He didn't say any more, so Eren took the opportunity to bind Levi's wound. He hurriedly went back to his tattered cloak, taking the bandages he had made and going to Levi's side. Gently lifting his shirt, he wrapped the gaping hole in his stomach, trying not to dwell too much on how quickly the blood soaked through even as he finished tying it off. With his remaining cloth, he bunched it up and pressed it over the wound, pushing down with one hand and grabbing one of Levi's with the other.

"Keep pressure on it and get up! We're going to find them."

Levi's eyes watched him steadily, never leaving the brunet even as he moved to his side and pulled an arm around his shoulders.

"Eren… I've lost too much blood. I can barely sit up on my own."

Just then, Levi hissed, recoiling as Eren attempted to pull him up from the ground. Cursing, then quickly apologizing, Eren immediately bent down and scooped Levi into his arms, his head leaned against his chest and his legs dangling limply over one arm.

"Then I'll carry you!" Eren growled, stumbling forward as fast as his legs would allow.

"You can barely walk yourself, dumbass."

"Shut up!" the brunet yelled, charging forward in what he hoped was the right direction. They fell into silence, Eren concentrating on his steps and the small, fragile human being in his arms, painfully hanging onto every little breath he felt against his chest and praying there would be another one. He felt anxiety claw at his throat, threatening to tear him apart and leave him broken, helpless. He barely swallowed it down. It only served to get worse as, for a heart-wrenching moment, the breathing stopped.

"Heichou? Heichou, don't fall asleep!"

"…Hmm."

Hearing that almost made Eren cry.

"Don't tell me what to do, brat."

"Heichou, stay awake. Please? For me."

"…Alright. For you," Levi muttered, and that made Eren's heart flutter, just a little bit.

"Do something to let me know you're awake… Just talk. Talk about anything and don't stop," Eren demanded. He waited for Levi to say something, still walking as fast as he could and ignoring the screaming muscles in his legs. When he got no response, he felt tears sting his eyes and he seriously thought he was going to breakdown right there and let the Titans find and eat him. Screw humanity.

"…I had never thought I was going to fall in love," Levi's smooth baritone muttered at Eren's chest, vibrating through his very core. "Being attached to other people… has never worked out for me before, and fighting Titans had become the only thing that mattered to me… so I thought loving someone was out of the question."

Here, Levi paused, and Eren couldn't bring himself to say anything as he walked on.

"Everyone I had ever come to know always died… and being in a war made it worse… Love just seemed so unattainable and ridiculous in my situation… It just never happened… And then I met you."

The raven had to pause, taking a shaky breath and tightening his hold on his bandages.

"I don't know when it started… It just happened. I couldn't have stopped it if I had wanted to… At one point, I was just taking care of this brat for the sake of humanity… and the next… I was anticipating hearing the way he greeted me in the morning… and watching him make tea for me in the afternoon… By the time. I noticed… it was too late… and I could only be disgusted with myself."

"Heichou… I could never be disgusted with you," Eren said, stepping over a tree root. "I've admired you for a very long time. You're a good man. And personally, when I first joined the Corp, I was just happy to serve, but… after a while, I was really looking forward to spending time with you."

"…You know, this is really shitty timing right? To be saying these things."

"Yes," Eren answered, and under different circumstances, he might have laughed. "I would have preferred if you weren't bleeding all over my uniform. It was freshly pressed."

Levi gave a weak chuckle. "Still making jokes… aren't you?"

"It's all for you, Heichou."

They fell into a short silence, Eren trying not to jostle too much as he stepped over another root. He still felt Levi breathing shakily against him, and he tried not to let that get to him as he shoved on.

"You can say my name now."

Startled, Eren looked down at him. "What?! Why would I do that? You're my squad leader!"

The older man grimaced. "I think… we can look passed that… considering the circumstances."

"But…" the brunet began, unable to say anything for a moment. Then he started walking faster. "I will when we get to the others."

"Eren—"

"No!" he immediately growled. "There will be time for all this when you're better."

"We both know there's not," Levi said, and Eren had to stop because it was suddenly hard to breathe.

He felt his Captain lift a hand, the back gently skimming his chest.

"…You've always… wanted to see the ocean. Right?" he asked, voice barely a graveled whisper. Slowly, the hand moved until it rested, warm and sticky, against his cheek. "Don't forget to live your dream."

And then the hand dropped, slender fingertips leaving a blazing, ice-cold trail against his skin. Then Levi went limp, and was still.

Eren stopped existing. Suddenly he felt like his heart had stopped beating, his lungs clogged by tar as he cradled the body in his arms.

"He-Heichou?" he croaked, unable to bring himself to look down. He could feel himself trembling, his throat closing up and his eyes stinging. But he couldn't bring himself to move, to scream, to cry.

And then he finally brought himself to say it.

" _Levi?"_

Just like that, it was over. Eren was done. Saying his name, finally letting those two, simple syllables tumble passed his lips was the breaking point. It was like being shot, like pulling the trigger of the gun that would shatter his heart.

Just like that, he broke.

"Levi," he said again, the name a ragged whisper on his lips as he fell to his knees. "Levi. Levi, Levi, _Levi. Levi!_ Levi, don't leave me. _Levi…"_

Eren couldn't stop the tears. They flowed hot and thick down his grimy face. Weeping, Eren clutched the body tighter, burying his face in cool, silky, black hair, shaking and gently rocking back and forth.

"We—we're going to live by the ocean one day. Ok? Just you and me. We'll… build a house all on our own. I'll even let you chose how to decorate it—You would probably yell at whatever choices I'd make anyway. But I wouldn't mind. Whatever y-you do will end up being perfect, I'm sure. Just… promise to come out and explore the world with me. Ok? That's all I want. As long as you're with me, it will be perfect. So-so please… Levi… _Levi…"_

He never received an answer, but he never stopped talking, never stopped pleading, asking, _begging._ Tears streamed down his face, and half the time, he couldn't make out what he was saying, but he couldn't make himself stop. Not even when the Regiment found them or when Mikasa rushed over, closely followed by Armin and Hanji. He couldn't stop crying, clutching the body against his chest like it was the most precious thing he could ever stand to lose.

He didn't know when it had happened, but at some point, Eren found himself sitting in the back of a wagon, eyes staring blankly at what was presumably a tarped body in front of him. Slowly, delicately, he pulled back the cloth, no one stopping him, and revealed the familiar pale skin and raven-black hair of his Captain Levi.

For a long time, he merely stared, heart and mind numb at what his eyes refused to register. Then, he reached for the jacket the Captain wore, slipping his hand under the cold tarp, and ripped the insignia from the shoulder.

He held it in his hand, studying the familiar blue and white wings almost ripped completely in half diagonally and spattered with small droplets of red.

And then he slipped it into his pocket, a heavy weight that would remain for many years to come.


End file.
